


A Special Present

by Tobashii



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff everywhere, The world knows Marinette is Ladybug, i am Marichat trash, partial reveal, please join me in my trash heap of romance and cuteness, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 16:49:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13194396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobashii/pseuds/Tobashii
Summary: Marinette had gotten used to Chat Noir’s occasional presents, but she wasn’t expecting what she saw when she opened the box.





	A Special Present

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lyosphe](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=lyosphe).



> This is my Miraculous Secret Santa gift for lyosphe! I hope they like it!

Marinette heard him before she saw him. Sure, he was quiet, but six years of being Ladybug, and four years of home visits, had helped train her ears to recognize the subtle thumping of his feet across the rooftops.

“You’re later than usual,” she regarded as Chat Noir landed smoothly beside her on her balcony. 

“Sorry, Princess. Had to get something from my house, first.” He placed a swift kiss to her cheek and crossed the balcony. He set a small velvet bag, about the size of her palm, on the table across from them, along with three take away boxes from a new Italian chain restaurant. “Apparently, this restaurant is trying American style breadsticks, and people adore them. I brought us some, as well as some pasta and chicken stuff.”

“Chicken... stuff?” Marinette raised an eyebrow at him as he placed the boxes on the table. 

“It had some fancy name I don’t remember,” Chat said hesitantly, “My mind was... elsewhere. Preoccupied. ” He pulled out a chair for Marinette, and flopped into one next to it. They enjoyed their meal in happy conversation, agreeing that, while the pasta and chicken were all right, the bread sticks were amazing, and Marinette made a note to talk to her parents about trying some thick, fluffy, American style breadsticks. 

She cleared the table, then sat on the floor and stretched out her legs, beckoning Chat Noir to come join her. He happily scurried over and lay down, placing his head in her lap.  
He had started visiting her a few months after the Kung Food incident, under the guise of checking up on her after her uncle was akumatised. At first she was suspicious and a little irritated at her kitty’s presence in her civilian life, but she knew that he was being a good guy and trying to do his job. One day, he was sick, and didn’t come to visit, and she surprised herself by actually missing his company. They had opened up more and more to each other: sharing little things about their lives, becoming friends, doing homework, casually flirting, and working on Marinette’s design portfolio. Gradually, they started to trust each other, and started sharing more personal things.  


She knew his mother left them. She knew his father was cold and overprotective. She knew he kept him locked away from people, working constantly in a very intense and demanding job. She knew that job paid him a lot of money, enough that he was as rich as Adrien and Chloe.  


She knew that he was brilliant, and particularly excelled in physics. She knew he loved anime, and had a particular fondness for sappy romance. He identified more with Tamaki Suoh of Ouran High School Host Club than he cared to admit, till their first anniversary when, after drinking a bit too much wine, he confessed that his entire Chat Noir persona had been influenced by the character. She knew he loved her, as Marinette, as well as Ladybug. 

She stroked the golden hair behind his ears, and smiled when he began to purr. 

He’d been visiting her for about a year when he’d learned she was Ladybug. Well, the whole world had learned it, really. They had been in the middle of an incredibly difficult and tedious akuma fight with a defunded university botanist named Ivy League. After fighting for hours, and using her lucky charm, she had ducked into an alley to detransform and recharge Tikki. Chat Noir said he would do all he could to buy her time, but he was tired too, and had been taking more hits than usual. He fell after one of the akuma’s barrages of razor-like leaves, and was about to be wrapped up in a thorny vine when, panicking, she caught the vine with her yo-yo. Ignoring the urgent beeping from her earrings and Chat’s concerned shouting, she tugged with all her might to keep the thorned vine from reaching her partner. She knew the second her transformation wore off, the yo-yo would disappear, and Chat would be in danger again. Her earrings beeped one last time, and she felt the magic began to dissolve her suit. She dropped the yo-yo and bolted in front of Chat, grabbing the vine and winding it tight around her arms. The thorns pierced her skin and her blood dripped onto the pavement. Chat had bolted to her rescue, but at her command grabbed the akumatised object and shattered it. Tikki, weak as she was, flew up and swallowed the butterfly, before collapsing next to Marinette on the sidewalk. Chat scooped her and Tikki into his arms and bounded away over the rooftops to her balcony.  


She had hoped it would all be kept secret, but wasn’t surprised when, on the news stations the next morning, were videos and pictures of a brave, bleeding Marinette standing where Ladybug had been, and more of her pale and limp figure carried in a terrified Chat Noir’s arms back to the bakery and her frightened parents. What did surprise her was how considerate everyone had been. All of the people she had helped banded together to make life a bit easier for her. Chloe had gone from tormenting her to ignoring her, but even she had badgered the mayor into making it a fineable offense for paparazzi to harass her. When Chat had finally visited her again, he had held her in his arms and cried. He said he finally understood why she hadn’t wanted to share identities. Since he didn’t have anyone who was very close to him, he had never imagined what kind of danger they could be put in, and what he would feel when they were. He told her that he would never reveal himself to anyone, because he couldn’t bear to see the woman he loved so dearly hurt like that again. He spent weeks staring at her arms, at the scabs left by the thorns. He would spend hours gently petting the skin, as if his touch would make it heal faster. She understood his fear, and she let him do what he felt necessary to think they were both safe again.

“Marinette?”

She looked down at the pouting face of her boyfriend. He was handsome, even if he was pulling a sour face. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“You stopped petting me,” he whined into her lap.

“Oh, you poor kitty,” she crooned at him. Her eyes drifted over to the table, where the little bag sat patiently, while Tikki prodded the side. “What’s in there, anyway?”

Chat Noir sat up quickly and she noticed his face had blushed a dusty pink. “It- Well, it’s a present.”

“A present?” Marinette asked. She walked over to the table, picked up the crushed velvet bag, and ran her hands over the fabric. It was soft, and a beautiful shade of emerald green. Tikki smiled up at her, winked, and then began to munch on a snickerdoodle. “Since when are you so flustered over giving me a present, Chaton?”

Chat rubbed the back of his neck. “This one’s... different. A bit.” 

Marinette shook her head playfully and turned to the table. She pulled at the ribbons that tied the bag closed, and after they were undone, she took the bag and smoothed it out on the table. Inside was a small, black leather jewelry box, with a tiny gold bell attached to the top, as a handle. A smile played across her lips, remembering how she had received a cute ladybug necklace and a paw print bracelet as anniversary gifts in little boxes like this one.

Marinette had gotten used to Chat Noir’s occasional presents, but she wasn’t expecting what she saw when she opened the box.

The ring was a small cat head, studded all over with small dark stones Marinette couldn’t recognize. It had a cloudy green stone for its eye, and delicate silver whiskers. Perched on its nose was a tiny red dot, obviously meant to be a ladybug. Turning it over, she saw the inside was engraved with “My Princess, My Lady, My Love.”

Marinette smiled broadly as all the breath left her chest. “Oh, Chat, it’s beautif-” her voice caught when she turned around and saw a shaking Chat down on his knees. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” His voice was trembling. “Will you marry me?”

Her whole body froze and her eyes blew open wide. Chat fidgeted and began to hurriedly stutter through his next words. 

“I know it won’t be easy. With me being who I am, it may even be impossible. But I can’t imagine my life without the light you bring to it.” He gently took her hands in his. “My civilian life was smothering. My superhero life was a blessing, giving me freedom and joy I hadn’t felt before. And you, Princess, you made it wonderful. First, you gave me a friend. You joked and teased and trusted me, and we grew. We grew closer, and we grew together. You gave me love, you gave me affection, and you gave me a home where I wasn’t afraid or lonely. I want to always feel the warmth I feel when I’m with you. I want my pillows to smell like bread and cake every morning. I want Tikki to leave cookie crumbs all over the house, even if it’s in my sock drawer. I want to adopt a hamster, as long as Plagg won’t eat it, and I think Hugo and Emma are beautiful names. And I want an anime collection, and for you to kick my butt at video games every night, and I want to take you to tons of fashion shows and buy you pretty fabric since we both know I can afford that and I want to wear every shred of clothing you make for me out of it. And I know it’ll be hard, with me being a super hero and can’t reveal myself and I know it’ll be dangerous but we’re both used to danger and...”

“It’s not impossible.”

Chat fumbled, staring up at her face. “Excuse me?”

She placed her hand on her chin, thinking. “The whole world knows I’m Ladybug. I won’t be in any more danger than usual if I married you. And with your identity still a secret to me, I couldn’t be used as leverage. You’d have to keep the mask on, though. We could have a cheese bar at the reception for Plagg when he needed it. Or maybe Master Fu and Tikki could help us figure something out so he could be there to see it...” 

“So, is that a yes?” Chat eyes gleamed hopefully.

Smirking, she took one finger and pushed on his nose till he was sitting back. “I think we can make it work.”

Whooping, Chat leapt up and wrapped his arms around her stomach, lifting her slightly. He grinned devilishly as his fingertips pressed against her ribs. “Excuse me, Princess, but that isn’t a ‘yes,’ you know.”

Marinette looked down at him innocently. “It isn’t?”

Chat’s mischievous grin grew even wider. “Nope. I want to hear a full and genuine ‘yes’ out of you. Now, will you Mari me?” 

Her joyful face shriveled into a look of disdain. “Not after a pun like that one, I won’t.” 

“Oh, come on,” he said, pressing his fingers into her ribs. She twitched a bit as she fought back giggles. “Mari me!”

“NO!” She cried out, bursting into laughter as he continued to tickle her ribs. She squirmed around, but he held her back firmly against his chest, and she could do nothing but laugh as he tormented her.

“Tell me you’ll Mari me! Puns and all!”

“NOOOO!”

“Say it!”

“OK, OK, I’LL MARRY YOU.”

“Sorry, I must have misheard you. Say that again?”

“YES I’LL MARI YOU!”

“That’s better,” Chat Noir smiled, ceasing his assault of her poor ribs. He lowered her till her feet were back on the ground, but kept his arms wrapped around her. Marinette took several gasping breaths as she calmed down. He leaned against the balcony railing, and she leaned against his chest, warm arms cradling her close. They stayed like that for a long time, Chat Noir occasionally pressing soft kisses on the top of her head and her shoulders. After a few moments, she slid the ring onto her finger. She smiled gently as she admired it, dark stones flashing with the yellow Paris lights. 

“Chocolate diamonds.”

His voice snapped Marinette out of her reverie. “What?”

He cleared his throat again, nuzzling the back of her neck. She could feel the heat of his blush on her shoulders. “The dark stones. They’re chocolate diamonds. The ring itself is white gold, the ladybug is a ruby, and the eye is a real emerald. Created emeralds are clearer and glittery, but I like the more matte color of the natural ones.”

“Yeah, they stand out better since the other stones are so- WAIT, CHOCOLATE DIAMONDS? REAL EMERALD?” Marinette twisted in his arms till she stared at his face incredulously. 

“How much did you spend on this?”

Chat’s signature grin returned. “My Lady, don’t you know it’s rude to ask how much someone spent on a gift? Especially one as monumental as this?” 

“But Chat, this is so extravagant. It must have cost a fortune!” 

Chat took her hand and brought it to his lips. His green eyes pierced deep into hers. “And it still wasn’t enough to show you how much you mean to me.”

Marinette felt her own face heat up. “Silly kitty,” she whispered, and she pulled his face down to meet hers. She felt him smile against her lips, and they kissed lovingly until a thought interrupted them. 

“Wait, will I be Marinette Noir after this?!?”

**Author's Note:**

> First fic I've ever posted! All for lyosphe! Go check them out on tumblr, guys.
> 
> Honestly, I got really into this story, and I'm thinking of expanding it into a multi chapter fic. That way I can write about the akuma battle and Marinette's reveal, and I can write about the upcoming wedding. 
> 
> Let me know if any of you would be interested in reading that!


End file.
